Lionhawk
by Ethan L
Summary: Six years after the defeat of Ozai, Sokka has mastered a new style of fighting and leads an unlikely group into battle with a new, more dangerous enemy.
1. Chapter 1

The house was quiet as Sokka walked down the halls, fully armored. A thin stream of blood trailed from his neck, where he had only narrowly avoided being killed by an arrow. He dragged his sword along behind him, too tired to summon the energy required to lift it up to its sheath. As he reached his bedroom door, he felt the urge to cry, but held it in. Suki would not want him to waste his time with such things.

At first his bedroom looked empty, but it was only when he had stripped down to only his underwear that he saw the purely feminine body in his bed. She was wearing silk and the blankets had fallen off of her; Sokka was in too much shock to make a single noise. He cleared his throat and Ty Lee sat straight up in the bed like a lionturtle had just roared in her ear. She blushed and Sokka had to admit it was a little charming. It had been so long; Suki would want him to move on.

Ty Lee smiled; as Ty Lee always did and stretched in such a way that Sokka had to stop moving in order to regain control.

"Hi there," Ty Lee chirped.

Normally, Sokka would have asked her why she was in his bed. Normally he would have cared, but not that night. He looked out the window, where the smoke from his signal fire could be seen from miles away. That night he needed something more than rest.

"Hello," Sokka whispered as he fell, face first, into bed. Within moments, Ty Lee had wiped the blood from his neck and had the wound covered and taped. When she was finished, she straddled his back and rubbed his back and shoulders, using her knowledge of the human body to literally push his stress away.

"I've never asked you to let me replace her Sokka," Ty Lee said. "I just want a chance to try and distract you for a little while."

It was a common conversation, but already Sokka had let her get farther than usual. He turned over and looked up into her eyes. They were bigger than Suki's had been; much easier to read too. He looked away, uncomfortable with the longing he could see in them.

"I'm not ready Ty Lee," Sokka said softly. "I've only ever loved two women and now…" He let the sentence hang unfinished between them. Ty Lee nodded. She leaned down as if she was going to kiss him, but instead she rolled to the side so that she was beside him rather than on top of him.

"Did they answer?" She asked. Sokka shrugged. "I was ambushed; I couldn't wait around long enough to find out."

"Did they follow you?"

Sokka turned away from her and closed his eyes, remembering back in the days of Ozai, back when life was simple.

"Only if dead men can walk."

_Sokka looked across the yard to where Master Piandao was waiting with his sword drawn. Sokka closed his eyes, searching for his life energy like Piandao had taught him to do, but it was nearly impossible. It should have been as easy as breathing, but for some reason he could only think of Suki watching him from the balcony. He glanced up at her, seeing that she was dressed in his favorite outfit. In that one second, Piandao closed the distance between them as if he had teleported._

_ "If you cannot focus I will have to send her away Sokka," Piandao said. "Only the best will make a difference in this war." With an acrobatic twirl, Piandao kicked himself into a sideways flip and created distance between where he and Sokka stood once more. "Now, come at me with the spirit you had when you were a younger man Sokka. _

_ Sokka obliged, lunging forward and swinging to kill, knowing he would never land a hit on his master. _

When he woke up, Ty Lee had already left the room, leaving nothing more than crumpled blankets and yet another sour memory. Sokka rose from bed, starting to get dressed as he considered a life with Ty Lee. It wasn't as though he couldn't imagine just how nice it would be, but…

"Suki," Sokka whispered. In a sudden surge of rage, he punched the wall, leaving a hole the size of his fist in its place. "Why did you have to go?" A single tear slid down his cheek, but he cleared his throat and pushed the feelings back again. Not now… someday there would be time to grieve, but not now.

After getting ready, Sokka left his room and walked to the end of the hall where a balcony overlooked the outdoor sparring arena. Ty Lee was down below stretching in the ways that only Ty Lee could. Sokka felt a deep stirring in his chest, but turned away as Suki's face popped into his head, sending a pang of guilt through his gut. As he walked away, Ty Lee called up to him.

"A messenger hawk arrived for you this morning." Sokka wondered if he should turn back, therefore admitting to watching her stretch or to just walk away and pretend he hadn't heard her. After a moment, he chose the second option and walked to the kitchen where the messenger hawk was still waiting with a note attached to its leg.

: Sokka, Bee and I will meet you there. Hope things are well, Longshot:

Sokka scratched the hawk's head and walked out to the front, where Ty Lee had begun a series of highly acrobatic dance moves.

"Longshot said they would meet us there," Sokka said. Ty Lee stopped, mid cartwheel, holding herself up in the air with one hand easily. She smiled at Sokka and rolled forward into a sitting position.

"Ok, I guess we'll be travelling alone then?" She winked teasingly. Sokka smiled in spite of himself.

"We'll be leaving by noon today so be sure you're packed."


	2. Chapter 2

_Piandao was looking at him with pity, the same pity that everyone else had covered him with since Suki had… It was still so fresh. His eyes narrowed, seeing his master in a new light. The war was here and Suki was the proof. If he had only studied harder, she might still be there. _

_ "Are you ready Sokka?" _

_ Sokka nodded; his grip steady on his sword. Piandao took a single step forward, and Sokka was there waiting. Piandao nodded approvingly. He moved to the side, but Sokka saw it coming and was there waiting. Suddenly, Piandao vanished, leaving Sokka looking rather stupid as he spun around looking for the man. _

_ "Where are you?" Sokka felt a tap on his shoulder and spun around. Piandao materialized from nothing. "You can turn invisible now?" _

_ "Keep up Sokka," Piandao said with a smile. "I blend in with my surroundings; going invisible is something children imagine doing." _

_ Sokka frowned, realizing just how far behind his master that he really was. He bowed respectfully and fell back into his fighting stance. He would master this or he would die trying. _

Sokka woke up to the touch of cold fingertips on his cheek. Ty Lee was kneeling beside him with a serious expression.

"We're being ambushed."

"How many?" It was all normal now. Sokka reached for his sword and prepared himself for the fight.

"Three spiderwasps and one dragon."

Sokka rolled to his feet and crouched at the flap of their small tent. He waited until he could sense them and nodded to Ty Lee. They lunged from the tent as one, Ty Lee immediately moving in on the closest enemy. Within seconds, the man was curled up on the ground, gasping in pain.

Sokka got in between Ty Lee and a rather large man who looked like he was about to charge. Sokka took in a deep breath through his nostrils, feeling the world slow to a crawl around him. His opponent was twice Sokka's size, but when the man moved it was clumsy; a warrior dedicated to swinging his boulder-sized fists around until no one was left to hit.

Sokka stood in a simple stance, his sword held straight up against his back, feet together, and two fingers just under his chin. As the man moved, Sokka moved. Sokka danced around him for a while and to someone just watching aimlessly, it would seem that the man roared in rage, but really he was crying out in pain. Every time he saw an opening, Sokka would pierce the man with the tip of his blade, just enough to slow him down. The third spiderwasp, too cowardly to face Ty Lee after seeing his second companion fall to her precise knuckles, tried to sneak up behind Sokka. Sokka simply ducked, letting the behemoth knock out his own friend before dropping to his knees, exhausted from the loss of blood and constant movement. Sokka spun out of the way as the large man fell on his face, landing on the companion that he had just knocked out. Sokka cleaned his blade on the man's shirt, cleaned it, and started packing up camp.

"That was strange," Ty Lee said. Sokka shrugged.

"We're getting closer to where the battlefront is, which means we will be seeing a lot of that." Just as he said it, an arrow whistled through the air and it took all of his reflexes to lift his blade and deflect the arrow in time. Another arrow sailed through, but this time he was ready. Sokka knocked it away and in one fluid motion, snapped his wrist just right so that his boomerang sailed into the trees. From the projection of the arrows – a loud "twang" as the archer's string snapped and the "clang" of a boomerang getting stuck in someone's helmet – the archer would be in just the right position. Ty Lee gasped and clapped her hands.

"Wow Sokka, you're so good at this stuff."

Sokka whistled for the giant eelhound that Piandao had given him as a gift and within an hour, he had retrieved his boomerang, packed up the camp and moved on his way. Ty Lee had chosen to wear only a bra, which made focusing on directing the eelhound a little difficult, but Sokka decided he didn't mind.

_Suki would want me to move on._

Ty Lee seemed to know what he was thinking, or she just had perfect timing, because she leaned back against him and rested her head on his shoulder. His stomach twisted slightly but he smiled at her all the same.

When they finally got out of the forest, they were on the edge of a cliff looking out at the giant rock columns where Aang had defeated the firelord only six years before. Sokka frowned, wondering if that guy would ever have any peace.

Sokka slid off of the eelhound and looked around. In moments, he saw Longshot and Smellerbee walking toward them. Longshot had not changed, but Bee had finally given up trying to look like a boy as her surprisingly large curves would not allow it. Ty Lee dropped down and instantly began stretching out her stiff muscles.

"Being in one position for so long just can't be good for our auras," she said in a worried tone. As Longshot and Bee reached them, Sokka greeted both of them and pointed to where a large camp could be seen in the distance.

"From my information, there are three top notch Lionhawks in that camp, so we will need to be as careful as possible, but if we clear the way then Aang and Zuko can rest the army for a bit." Longshot nodded, showing no fear. Bee frowned and crossed her arms, obviously ready for a fight. Ty Lee just smiled.

"What's the plan then Sokka?" Ty Lee asked.

Sokka rubbed his temples, wondering what Suki would do. Probably ask the same question Ty Lee had.

"We're going to take them out slowly. There's no need to go rushing in when we can spy on them and take them out one at a time. Now just cross your fingers they don't take us out first."


	3. Chapter 3

Things had been going so well. They had taken out nearly half the camp before they were spotted by a single scout. Within three hours, they were surrounded. When everything was done, they had held back the camp, but when the fighting stopped and the survivors limped away, Sokka noticed that Ty Lee was gone.

Sokka trembled with rage, but when he looked down at Longshot and Bee, he knew they were too tired to continue.

"Stay here," he told them. Without waiting for a response, he ran forward and jumped over the edge of the cliff. Just before he hit the ground, he closed his eyes, focused his chi, and absorbed the impact with ease.

_I'm not losing another one._

He ran forward once more. A few stragglers from the fight saw him, but he was in no mood to deal with them. His adrenaline pumped through him, slowing everything around him to a crawl. Each opponent died from an identical wound to the throat.

_I will die before I lose her._

The edge of the camp was in sight, which meant that the guard could easily see that Sokka was not a companion. The guard opened his mouth to yell a warning, but Sokka's boomerang was suddenly lodged in the man's throat. The man fell to his knees and swayed forward. Sokka reached him and retrieved his boomerang just as the man fell face first in the dirt.

_She is mine. She will be mine forever._

Sokka didn't think to question where this passion was coming from, as they had hardly spoken over the past few days. He just knew that he wanted her back now and nothing would stop him from achieving that goal.

As he stepped into the camp, Piandao's teachings flowed through him and suddenly he was the perfect warrior, a blade in the shadows. He danced around his opponents, only using his sword for the absolute kill shots. He focused his chi with precision that he had never managed before, disappearing under blades at the last second, seeming to turn invisible, and always knowing where his opponent would step next. His rage fueled him forward, but as he fought, he reached a sense of peace that warmed him to his very core. He would find Ty Lee and that would be the end of his hesitation.

He stopped for a moment and looked behind him at the trail of bodies. The remaining men were hesitant to get close to him. Finally, three men stepped forward; unmistakably the Lionhawks. The spirit that was currently battling with Aang had trained humans in a very unique style of fighting, with Lionhawks being the most advanced.

"You would die for that girl?" One of the men asked. Sokka's response was to lunge forward. He blocked his own flow of chi for a moment, making it seem as though his life force had vanished. The Lionhawk stumbled backward, directly onto Sokka's sword. The other two jumped around, obviously confused about how Sokka had moved so fast.

"Release her and take your men far away from here," Sokka said softly. "If you do that I will not kill you."

The men laughed and moved forward. They were fast, but Sokka had been trained. Piandao had discovered the way of Astral style fighting and Sokka was the second to ever master it. To him, these men were crawling. He ended their lives just as easily as he had everyone else's and laughed, wondering why he had been so worried about this mission.

He pointed his sword to a nearby guard.

"Where is she?" The guard trembled and pointed to the largest tent. Sokka cleaned his sword and sheathed it before walking in, seeing Ty Lee tied up in the corner. Sokka rushed forward and broke her bonds easily, never letting his eyes drift away from hers. Once she was free, she wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him. Sokka kissed her back, feeling a rush of emotions toward her.

In that moment, it seemed like they could read each other's minds. Ty Lee pulled Sokka's shirt up and over his head and Sokka untied her bra, letting her supple breasts fall. They embraced each other, feeling warm skin on warm skin. Sokka took her there without a second though. Their clothing seemed to just fall off and before he knew it, he was on top of her, feeling her lean body moving with his. Their breathing was matched, although hers was quickly getting louder. In his opinion, he had never felt anything better than her hips grinding against his, her skin against his. It was more than he ever imagined they would do.

"I love you Sokka," she whispered. He responded by kissing her back and sliding his tongue into her mouth. He nibbled on her bottom lip for a moment.

"I love you too. I'm sorry this is what it took for me to see it."

Suddenly, she pushed him off of her and turned over so that he was on his back and she was on her hands and knees, with her lips hovering just over his shaft. His mind went blank as he felt her lips close around it. All he knew was that his fingers were wrapped in her hair and his hips refused to stop twitching by the time she was done.

Ty Lee crawled up his body and sat on his hips, guiding his shaft into her and smiled at him as she put her hands on his chest, effectively pushing her breasts forward in the process. The whole night, they continued, stopping only when absolutely necessary. When they woke in the morning, they were still holding each other and they were still nude. Sokka kissed her and pulled her closer to him before standing and getting dressed. When he stepped out of the tent, Longshot and Bee were waiting in the middle of the campsite. Sokka grinned, wondering if they had made love throughout the whole night before.


End file.
